Elections roll around again, as do US dollars

After Hungary's 2022 parliamentary elections, US-based Action for Democracy is preparing to influence the municipal and European Parliamentary elections to be held in the country next June. The organization led by David Koranyi, a confidant of ex-Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai, has already taken the first step by announcing support for three projects, a clear sign that foreign influence will continue, and that dollars will once again flow into the left-wing propaganda machine.

Budapest, 2014. május 25. Bajnai Gordon, az Együtt-PM vezetője, megválasztott európai parlamenti (EP-) képviselője (j) és Karácsony Gergely, a Párbeszéd Magyarországért elnökségi tagja, az Együtt-PM politikusa a pártszövetség eredményváróján Budapesten, egy Dob utcai szórakozóhelyen az európai parlamenti választás napján, 2014. május 25-én. MTI Fotó: Máthé Zoltán Fotó: Máthé Zoltán

Nothing has changed on the Left since 2022, as the money spigot in the US will be reopened and financial support will once again arrive before the upcoming municipal and European Parliament elections, as it has in the past. Action for Democracy (AD) recently announced its next funding projects for 2023/24 as part of its "continued efforts to promote democratic values". Although the official beneficiaries of the funding are "civil society" organisations (CSOs) and left-wing press outlets calling themselves "independent", AD's activities to date and the justification for the programs now announced make it clear that the aim is again to shape the Hungarian political scene and influence the outcome of elections.

The term "battleground state" appears again, which is how Koranyi and company continue to characterize Hungary, clearly referring to the upcoming elections here.

AD has already used the phrase in its 2022 launch, when in addition to Hungary, Poland - where parliamentary elections are being held in the fall - is also considered a battleground state, along with Brazil and Italy, where elections were held last year.
It is absolutely clear what is going on in the global left-wing network, whose key man in Hungary is Gergely Karacsony, Budapest mayor and confidant of Socialist ex-Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai. Once again, they are using a propaganda machine stuffed with US dollars to rally public opinion against the governing parties in the run-up to next June's municipal and EP elections.

Campaign-tailored programs

Action for Democracy has announced support for three new initiatives in Hungary, which clearly show that the projects funded are tailored specifically for the elections.
The first is the Hungarian Civil Union (HCU), whose main objective is to promote the emergence of a strong, self-organizing civil society in Hungary, focusing on promoting democratic principles and broadening participatory programs. With HCU's support, Action for Democracy aims to reduce the deep polarization and the widespread apathy towards public participation found in Hungarian society, thereby helping like minded interest groups to engage in effective advocacy.

One of the most important initiatives of HCU is the creation and operation of "Civil Parliament". The aim of Civil Parliament is to promote dialogue between different interest groups in order to build advocacy capacity and ensure societal oversight of the state. At the same time, the Civil Stakeholder Council, also run by the HCU, serves as a decision-making body at local level and uses innovative software to quickly and economically gauge public opinion, especially on local issues. All this will be used to manipulate local public opinion in the coming local elections.
The second program is KisPolgar - Children's Magazine on Public Life, founded by one of the most vehement media workers for the Left, HVG publicist Arpad W Tota. According to the Koranyi's organization: "the KisPolgar cell phone application, which is the result of the initiative by journalist Arpad W Tota, provides Hungarian children over 10 years of age with reliable, accurate, but accessible news and information."

Magyar Nemzet previously reported that the children's magazine deals with not only politics, but also sexuality, obviously according to the left-wing woke ideology.

The third funded project is "Csak Amit Hallani Szeretnel" (Just What You Want to Hear) - a special so-called bookazine launched by the editorial team of the weekly Jelen (Present) magazine, which "delves into the mysteries of Hungary's current hybrid system". Focusing on Viktor Orban and his political apparatus, the bookazine explores the causal chain that has driven the country's recent history. 

Money flowing to Bajnai's circle again 

Now let's look at who is behind the organizations and press outlets enjoying US funding, because we’ll find some interesting connections.

One of the founders of the weekly Jelen is political scientist-turned-journalist Zoltan Lakner, who committed himself to Gordon Bajnai before 2010. Under left-wing governance, Lakner's business, PolitBuro Bt, received more than 28.5 million forints in contracts. It is no coincidence that the former political analyst wrote a laudatory book about Bajnai and his one year in office as prime minister, titled Frontsebeszet (Front Surgery). Now the dollars are coming to Lakner and his associates from David Koranyi, a confidant of the former prime minister. To complete the picture, now Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony’s company, Social Report Bt, also received hefty orders before 2010, pocketing 21.5 million forints under Gyurcsany’s government.
Lawyer Gyorgy Magyar’s Association of Civilians also benefits from US funding, their key supporter being the Hungarian Civil Union. Gyorgy Magyar participated in organizing the left-wing primaries before the 2022 elections while his son, Gabor Magyar has been working against Hungary in the European Commission for years, being involved in compiling the so-called rule of law reports condemning Hungary.

Foreign influence attempts

So this time, the foreign funding of the Left is taking place openly, while the millions of dollars channeled to Hungary before the 2022 elections were only revealed to the Hungarian public long after the campaign. First Peter Marki-Zay, the Left’s former prime ministerial candidate of the left, made mention of money from the US, and then a secret service investigation revealed the details.

Based on findings by the National Information Centre (NIK), the funds were likely used to influence the opinion of Hungarian voters and the outcome of the elections.

And this could have harmed Hungary’s sovereignty. Obviously, left-wing parties and politicians have to meet the expectations of foreign supporters in order to get money.

Various official investigations have been launched into the case and are ongoing.

Oraculum and DatAdat, two main beneficiaries

NIK's subeports from November last year and January this year showed that a total of 4 billionforints flowed into Hungary, from Action for Democracy, led by David Koranyi, former advisor to Gordon Bajnai and Gergely Karacsony, and from a Swiss foundation. Although Koranyi and his associates talked about many small amounts from micro-donations, the figures on their website were revealing: a total of only 11 donors put together millions of dollars in the US.
 

The Left in Hungary received some 3.17 billion forints in funding from AD and 887 million forints from the Swiss organization. Peter Marki-Zay’s Everyone’s Hungary Movement (MMM) was disbursed 1.85 billion forints while Zoltan Pava’s business, Oraculum 2020 Kft, raked in one billion forints from Action for Democracy and almost the same amount from Switzerland. With 1.4 billion forints, Bajnai’s DatAdat Group was the other main beneficiary of the funding, mostly through MMM.

Oraculum 2020 Kft spent the one billion funding on the full-capacity operation of an anti-government smear campaign portal called EzaLanyeg.hu, and on placing the Left's campaign messages on thematic websites sharing information on Covid or food recipes or jokes. These sites have since ceased to operate, proving that their operation was timed to coincide with the campaign.

Cover photo: Gordon Bajnai and Gergely Karacsony (Photo: MTI/Zoltan Mathe)